1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the structure of a camera equipped with an electronic flash equipment which has both a main lamp and an auxiliary lamp especially for preventing a red-eye phenomenon.
2. Description of the Related Art
Photography with an electronic flash suffers from a problem of what is called a red-eye phenomenon. That is, the eyes of the object come out red in the printed photograph. The red-eye phenomenon is produced because when an electronic flash is emitted toward the object such as a man and an animal, the light which enters the eyeballs from the pupils is reflected from the blood vessels in the eyeballs, so that the eyes themselves come out red in the printed photograph. In order to prevent this phenomenon, a method of reducing the diameters of the pupils by emitting a weak electronic flash prior to photographing (preliminary electronic flashing) so as to reduce the amount of light entering the eyeballs has recently been adopted.
In the case of preliminary electronic flashing by the use of a lamp provided in a camera, a method of emitting an electronic flash from a lamp such as a xenon tube by using capacitors different capacities has been proposed. According to this structure, a preliminary flash is emitted from the electronic flash lamp by the capacitor having a small capacity in synchronism with the shutter button, and after reducing the diameter of the pupils, a photograph is taken with an electronic flash by the capacitor having a large capacity.
If preliminary electronic flashing for preventing a red-eye phenomenon is carried out by utilizing the lamp for electronic flashing, it is advantageous in that only one lamp is sufficient both for preliminary electronic flashing and for electronic flashing for taking a photograph, but it is disadvantageous in that the complicated control for charging and discharging the capacitors having large and small capacities is required.
A method of preventing a red-eye phenomenon by an auxiliary lamp provided in a camera in addition to a lamp for electronic flashing has conventionally been proposed, but this method involves the following problem.
FIG. 8 shows an auxiliary lamp held by a holder in a camera. A lamp (tube) 1 is provided with a reflecting plate 2 having a parabolic section. The reflecting plate is held by a holder 3. By electrically connecting the lamp 1 with a pin 4, the light emission from the lamp 1 is enabled. The emitted light is converted by the reflecting plate 2 and projected toward the front surface of the camera.
In order to secure the space for attaching the auxiliary lamp 1, the size of the camera itself must be enlarged. Especially, since the reflecting plate 2 has a parabolic shape which expands towards the front surface of the camera, as shown in FIG. 8, if this auxiliary lamp is provided in the camera, it is impossible to reduce the size and the weight of the camera.